Experience the beaches and castles with our family in Sintra, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  Olá,
  
  We are kika, Nuno, Sebastião (15) and Alma (10), Mel and Tobias (the dogs) and Chiquita and Patinhas, the cats (Alergy alert! the pets sleep inside the house).
  
  We are homeschoolers and like to travel.
  
  I can offer:
  - small room in the attic in Sintra; Attic shared with me, the mother;
  - paid expenses on the trips we do together, except hotels. We tend to rent houses, sleep at friends houses, do camping.....
  
  We live in a small house, 20 min walking from the sea, in Sintra. The way to the sea is up and down the hill, please check google maps if thinking about going there with your long surf board.
  
  Fontanelas is not Lisbon and not close to Lisbon. It can take 2 hours to arrive to Lisbon by bus + train. In a day with good bus connection, you will need a 45 minutes ride in a bus (3,30€ each way) to arrive to Sintra city centre plus 30 minutes by train (1,44€) to arrive to Lisbon. I can help to have a card that makes the trips cheaper but can't help with the min 2 hours each way, unless you go at 8am and be back at 6:30pm, with he kids father and he lets you somewhere close to the rain/metro.
  
  There is no nigthlife in or around our village.
  
  We have a surf school nearby @ 25 euros per class and they pick you at home and take you to different beaches .
  
  We live a very modest life and the persons coming to live with us must be frugal and adapt to a shared space, just one bathroom, small kitchen...
  
  We don't smoke and can't have smokers in the house or garden.
  
  Only one person in the house is vegetarian in the house, no restrictions on sugar and no restrictions on media usage (screens are not a problem here). Please, be ready to be surprised on this matters. A bit of reading on sandradodd.com unschooling website might help to get us better.
  
  It is very important that the persons coming to our house like children and can make a connection with our kids. If that does not happen, we will ask you to leave. You will need to connect at least with one of the kids, in one of their interests.
  
  We prefer to receive people that are already in Portugal or that will travel in portugal anyways, can't have the responsibility of hosting someone who arrives and doesn't like it but as to stay until their ✈️ ✈️ back. However, if you arrive and we are not a good fit, i will help you in your move to your next host.
  
  We like to show our village by bicycle, to show around the beaches and castles of Sintra by car (at least the free ones).
  
  We need to keep cooking in a budget to be able to receive workwayers. Please remember to bring pocket money for your purchases.
  
  We need proactive people. I lack the spirit to go around telling people what to do.
  
  Ideally you would have full days working with us, or with the kids, and full days by your own, with no work. We can arrange it depending on everyone's needs.
  
  Thank you for reading our message until the end :)
  
  Cheers
  Kika

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House sitting
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We can help with learning:
  - portuguese
  - A few nigths in Lisbon, in a students residence, if there are free rooms.
  - Food - frugal, not fancy.
  - free time to explore the area
  - free entrance in museums, pool, castles and all the activities we do together
  - ride to the train station at 8am and from the train station at 7pm - alows to go to Lisbon;
  We will go around Sintra/ Lisbon/ Cascais for visits and sea time.
  - accommodation in the places were we have or rent houses (not in hotels if we end up in one)

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  In 2024/25 i would like to receive workwayers to help with one or more if this question:
  
  TOP PRIORITIES:
  - cook
  - play and do crafting with my 10 years old;
  - make art, dance, ceramics, aerial silks, make up, science, cooking sessions with the kids, specially the younger one and her friends (1 or 2 max)
  - finish the extra room in the attic;
  +
  
  - walk the dogs in the woods and by the sea;
  - trekking in Sintra with teens;
  - visit museums and gardens in Sintra/Lisbon/Cascais/Mafra area with just the kids or with the mother;
  -
  Now the hard tasks:
  - paint exterior walls of the garden;
  - help with the garden renovation;
  - help with the attic renovation - want to make 2 rooms there, to be able to share the space with workwayers;
  - cook family meals;
  - do the dishes;
  - hang to dry in the sun + fold laundry;
  - stay with the kids when parents need to work;
  - if with a car, I would pay to drive the kids to their activities;
  - help to do a revamp in our van, it is getting rusty from the sea and I have a product to put all over it;
  
  We also need house and pet siting:
  * 18 march to 18 June
  This includes open the windows; put the dehumidifiers on and off everyday; clean the house from dust and pets air; walk the dogs; clean after yourself :)

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  Portuguese: Fluent
  English: Intermediate
  French: Intermediate
  Spanish: Beginner
  Italian: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  i would like to learn arab or darija. my daugther would like to learn French. My son would benefit from being around Spanish speakers, he is fluent in english
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  Accommodation

  We give:
  - One room
  - the house only as one wc
  - our house is cold, you will need warm clothes to be inside. I can help to get free clothes;

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  What else ...

  We live 20 minutes from Sintra, the historical village (3,50€ by bbus)
  40 minutes from lisbon.
  Surfing spots:
  2 km from praia grande
  9 km from são Julião da barra/ ericeira
  Near us there is an organic farming cooperative with many interesting training's.
  We can make a transport card in your name, to keep the prices low.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  The van can stay at our door, in the driveway and the house can be used as a base. There are almost no cars in the street and the woods are less than one minute walking, the van can also stay there. If you come as a family, with a van, please, help us with all the "handy man projects" that we left unfinished :)

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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